


Better not badder

by OhGoshOhJeez



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid, The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals
Genre: Autistic hannah, Paul babysits Hannah, autistic paul, sensory overloads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 21:16:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21344833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhGoshOhJeez/pseuds/OhGoshOhJeez
Comments: 15
Kudos: 230





	Better not badder

“Okay, there’s leftovers in the fridge if she gets hungry, do NOT let her order out, I don’t got that kind of cash.” Lex said, picking up her keys from the bowl on her table.

“I’ll be back at eight, if she needs me just call.”

Paul nodded, looking over at the girl sitting on the staircase.

“Will do.” He said. He never thought he’d be the type to babysit, in fact, he often panicked when he had to be around children, but Emma had insisted since she knew how Lex and Hannah’s situation was, and Paul didn’t have the heart to refuse.

Lex walked over to Hannah, pressing a small kiss to her forehead, which Hannah flinched away from. Lex smiled sadly.

“Be good, okay, banana?” 

Hannah nodded, looking at the floor.

Lex made her way over to Paul, whispering quietly to him.

“She doesn’t like being away from me so...” She looked at her sister. “Just- Make sure she’s okay.” 

Paul nodded, and waved Lex out the door. 

There was an awkward silence, and Paul wrung his hands.

“So, do you wanna watch TV or...?”

Hannah shrugged, not looking in his direction.

“Cool. I’ll be in the living room.”

Paul retreated, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously.

He sunk down on the couch, picking up the TV remote and turning it on. Some dumb advertisement for a wiggly doll began to play and he rolled his eyes. 

When the commercial ended, Paul heard a shuffling noise as Hannah slowly moved and sat next to him on the couch, as far away as she could be, against the armrest. 

“I just saw an ad for that wiggly doll. Do you like that kind of stuff?”

Hannah shook her head no, bouncing her leg.

“Creepy.” She said.

“Yeah, I know right?” Paul shivered exaggeratedly.

He turned the channel, and a fun looking cartoon about a spider popped up onscreen.

“...What?” Hannah whispered, turning her head to the side.

“Hm?” Paul said, and she froze.

“N- Nothing. I just-...She looks like...”

“A...Spider?”

She went quiet, playing with her shirt sleeve.

“It’s okay if you don’t like spiders.” Paul said, and turned the channel again.

A loud bang came from the TV as a cop show started playing and both Hannah and Paul flinched.

“Whoa!” Paul said, turning the channel once again.

Hannah looked at Paul strangely, her eyebrows furrowed.

“What is it?” 

“You’re...Nothing, it’s nothing.” She said, bringing her knees up to her chest.

Paul sighed quietly, scrubbing a hand down his face. 

“Do you wanna go out to eat?”

—————————

“Lex said I’m not supposed to...” She said, standing in line with Paul.

“It’s fine, I’ll pay for it.” He smiled at her.

She nodded, her eyes cast to the floor.

She heard laughter from behind her and flinched, bringing one hand up to her ear before pausing and running it through her hair, like she was fixing it.

The worker behind the counter took Paul’s order, and they both sat down at a table with their food.

Hannah picked at her food in silence, occasionally drumming her fingers on the table.

“You okay?” Paul asked, putting salt on his fries. “You’ve barely touched your food.”

“Bad texture.” She said.

“Oh.” 

“I’ll eat the fries, I can’t eat the chicken.” 

“That’s fine!” Paul said. “I don’t expect you to eat anything you don’t want to.”

Hannah nodded and started eating.

Paul heard a jingle over the speakers in the corner.

“Get your own fwendy wend this Black Friday!” The voice on the speakers said.

“Ugh.” 

Hannah froze, her eyes going wide.

“Two...Doors?” She muttered to herself. “Black and white. Two doors, not one...What?” She looked confused, then was startled as Wiggly’s voice played.

“I’m your best fwendy wend! Tickle my tummy! Play with me!” 

“No...No..” She said.

“Hannah, what’s wrong?”

“I...Please...”

“Hannah-“

She flinched at a clang from the kitchen behind her, and her breathing quickened until she was practically hyperventilating.

“Whoa, hey,” Paul got up from his chair and crouched next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

She jumped, her eyes wide.

“Black and white. Two doors, not one.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s too...” She brought her hands up to her ears slowly, shakily. “Loud.” 

Paul frowned, worried, and before he could say anything, she shoved him away and ran out the door of the restaurant.

“Hannah!”

He followed her out, trying to spot her.

She was sitting a little further down the street, crouched and hugging her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth slightly.

“Hannah.” He sighed, walking over to her. She was still mumbling to herself.

“Two doors, not one...”

“Hannah, you scared me, you just ran off, and...” He trailed off.

Paul crouched down until he was eye level with her. Her face was red and blotchy, she’d been crying. 

“Hannah, please tell me what’s wrong.”

She wiped her eyes, sniffling.

“It got loud. I don’t like loud.” 

He gave her a sympathetic look, before sitting down next to her on the pavement.

“It gets easier.” He said, and Hannah looked at him, confused. “As you get older, you know. You learn how to deal with noise, and...You start looking people in the eye. People eventually stop thinking you’re... Different and just think you’re kinda shy.” 

“What do you mean?”

“It’s like...You get better at blending in. It’s still hard but you get by and it’s easier when you have people who know what it’s like.”

Hannah relaxed slightly, and looked into his eyes for the first time that night.

“You’re...Like me?”

Paul smiled, and nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah Hannah, I’m like you.”

———-

Hannah ended up falling asleep on the couch, against Paul’s shoulder. 

He heard the door open and Lex walked in, taking off her coat.

“Hey.” She said.

“Hi.”

“How was she?” 

“She was fine. She panicked a little earlier but she’s okay now.”

“Good.” Lex said, looking at her sister and smiling.

“Say Paul, you’re good with kids”

Paul looked at Hannah and smiled.

“We have a lot in common.” 

  
  



End file.
